Crime

UMass Amherst department head facing child exploitation charges

Michael Henson, 58, will be arraigned in court later this month.

A man crosses the Isle of View over the Campus Pond at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on April 30, 2020. (Blake Nissen/ For The Boston Globe)

By Julia Taliesin

1 minute to read

The head of Chemical Engineering at UMass Amherst is facing multiple child exploitation charges.

Michael Henson, 58, was placed on administrative leave Thursday, and will be arraigned on Sept. 17 on three counts of photographing sexual or intimate parts of a child, Western Mass News reported.

Michael Henson, 58, had taught at UMass Amherst since 2002. – UMass College of Engineering Website

According to MassLive, court documents allege Henson took around 50 photos of a minor in a state of undress over several months last year. The minor told investigators they had learned about the images and asked him to stop, and Henson’s phone contained text messages admitting to the behavior. Court documents show Henson’s phone had been wiped clean and reset, MassLive reported.

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According to Western Mass News, Williamsburg Police began investigating Henson in October 2020.

Henson has been a faculty member at UMass Amherst since 2002, and assumed the role of department head in January after leading as the acting head for seven months. According to MassLive, Henson was listed as teaching two courses this fall, as of Thursday morning. An acting department head was listed on the website on Thursday.

UMass spokesperson Ed Blaguszewski told MassLive that, given Henson is on administrative leave, “he will not be teaching any classes.”

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